Blessings and Beyond: September 2008

Showing newest 22 of 43 posts from September 2008. Show older posts

Showing newest 22 of 43 posts from September 2008. Show older posts

The Ultimate Votive Offering

According to Wikipedia.org, a votive offering is "an object left in a sacred place for ritual purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally made in order to gain favor with supernatural forces. Votive offerings have been described in historical Roman era and Greek sources, although similar acts continue into the present day, for example the modern day practice of tossing coins into a wishing well or fountain."

Though it has a meaning not that related to the Christian beliefs, most of the Jesus believing religions such as the Roman Catholics observe this kind of offering by lighting votive candles. If you enter a Catholic Church, you will notice votive candle holders before a side altar or before a statue.

For me, I believed that the ultimate votive offering has already been given by Jesus Christ. He offered Himself as a sacrificial lamb to God the Father in behalf of us. He has done this so that we would gain favor with God. And believe me; I am grateful that He did!

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

I saw this poem at my children's book. I decided to post it because it really holds true for me.

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and grief to bear,
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer.

O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.

In my life, I have experienced carrying all my problems all by myself and it was one hell of a life. But when I surrendered myself to Him, I still feel the pain of all problems but I am confident that I can bear it because He is there for me and for us.

ChowKing Eat Out!!

Weekend Snapshot 3

We went again to the mall to replinish our groceries. after that we ate at ChowKing. A Chinese Food Chain here at our place.

So, how did your weekend go? Leave your URL and I will directly visit. ^_^

Thanks for dropping by. Have a great week ahead!!

Vintage Scenery

Scenic Sunday 4

This picture was taken by me about 10 years ago or more at Central Mindanao University, Musuan, Bukidnon, Philippines. At that time, my hubby and I are just in the initial stage of our girlfriend-boyfriend relationship. We went there together with my mom because my father worked with the governor of Bukidnon. Since a friend of my father had a party, we were invited and we made a side trip to the university to see beautiful scenic views.

I just scanned this picture since we have no digital cameras at that time. ^_^

Blessings and Beyond is a PRO-LIFE BLOG

I was blog hopping and I saw this post at "Steadfast Steps." Since I am a mother and I stand against abortion. I decided to post this at my blog also to tell the world that Blessings and Beyond is a PRO-LIFE BLOG!

Pro-life people are diverse in economic status, race, religion, and education. Yet, they are unified by the concept that all humans, especially the innocent unborn, have an inherent right to life.

Here are things I believe as a Pro-Life person:

I believe that the unborn child is human. Click

I believe life begins at conception. Click

I believe that abortion is not safe. Click

I believe that abortion is a war on the unborn. Click

I believe that the Roe v. Wade decision, legalizing abortion on demand in America, was one of the most important and devastating Supreme Court decisions. Click

I believe that a constitutional amendment should be passed that gives equal protection to all living humans, including the unborn. Click

I believe that the violence inside and outside abortion clinics is morally wrong. Click

I believe that rape and incest are horrible crimes and should be punished, but I don't believe that a child conceived from either should be killed. Click

I do not believe that the government should fund abortions. Click

I do not believe that the government should fund Planned Parenthood - the largest national supplier of abortions. Click

Being a religious person, I believe that the Bible backs up my views on abortion. Click

Here is what I think all Pro-Life people should be doing to help stop abortion: Click

The struggle over the abortion issue has been long and hard. Is all the work worth it? Why not take a look at the Baby Hall of Fame.

Copied with permission from www.abortionfacts.com
Copyright 2006. Heritage House '76, Inc. All rights reserved

Win an Xbox 360 at SportsVids

I have a PS2 but we don’t use it anymore because all of our DVD games have been scratched by my son. But since we have no budget to avail one, I have decided to join SportsVids’ Win an Xbox 360. ^_^

Yup, you heard me alright. SportsVids is giving away fabulous prizes. If you join SportsVids, you can have the chance to win, not only an XBox 360 but also an iPod Nano or a $100 Gift Certificate from Dick’s Sporting Goods! Isn’t that great??!!

So, how do you participate? Actually, it’s really easy to join. All you need to do is become a member of SportsVids. Then you will be given a URL that you will use to promote to your friends and family. Each time a visitor visit their site, you get points. So the more points you collect, the more chances of winning! By the way, you can monitor the number of points you have accumulated by visiting the main page. So, it’s easy to monitor if you are left behind or standing tall!

What is SportsVids? Well, it’s a place for all sports fanatics out there and that includes me. It’s like a social networking website wherein you can view online sports videos. If you want, you can upload your own sports clips or sports videos. Just like any social networking websites, you can rate and comment on all the sports vids uploaded.

Cool, right? So, hope on and join the contest now. Visit SportsVids.com today!

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I was Caught at HELLO!!

Mr. G did an unexpected update yesterday and everybody was caught at “hello.” That of course includes me. Anyway, this blog having no page rank before was blessed with a two. I never thought that it would be granted with such but he did. Thank GOD I got even a few stoke of green bar!!

I am hoping for good tidings for this blog but definitely I want to keep it clean as possible. That means I wanted to post things that are always related and not that I needed too. Of course, I will still post some things that fascinate me like online discoveries, my faith, contests that I love to join and more.

Little by little, my dreams for this blog have come to pass. I jpray that no mortal would bring havoc to this blog. I just don’t need another storm at my life just now…please!

Car and Grace

While I was pondering near our window, I heard our neighbors talking about cars and they were mentioning terms that I know not of. Then a little later they were already talking about power steering and how great it would be to drive a car with such grace. OK! That was it, car and grace? I really don’t know how a driving a car would be graceful??

So I did a little research and found out that cars have a power steering rack installed at the front tires. This enables them to move the steering wheel gracefully. If the power steering rack is leaking it would make it hard to turn. I know it’s not good to eavesdrop but I learned something from it today. That car can really be graceful!! ^_^

Don't Want to be Left Behind

I had a very terrible dream last night. Before I share it, please respect my stand on religion and faith. We all have different beliefs and my dream is just based on that.

Anyway, my friend Janet and I were taking about the collapse of the biggest bank in the US and how it would affect several major banks here and around the world. In the advent of such disastrous news, I commented that it seems “The Last Days” will happen in our lifetime. It is when the Anti-Christ will rise and rescue the fallen economy of the world. He would act as the savior of the economic downtime for 3.5 years then in the next 3.5 years he will show his color and start killing those people who would not accept his mark. It is the times were salvation is no longer by grace but by martyrdom in Christ Jesus. Well, some people might not believe or know about this, but in my heart I believed in the Last Days, the Rapture and of course, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is true and will come to pass.

In my dream, my mom, my baby boy and I were the only ones who were there. I don’t know where my father and my big girl were. All I had in my mind that the Rapture has taken place. Deep inside, I was quite very sad because we were left behind and that my baby boy was with us. I don’t want my baby boy to suffer the effects of the Tribulation and even for my mom and I. But I said to myself, they have already left and we have no choice but now to leave the city and make dwellings somewhere else. Of course, like any scared Christians, the only choice was to hide from the Anti-Christ who would kill anyone that would not accept his mark. Then suddenly, after the decision that we should start packing to hide, I was awakened by the alarm clock.

My dream made me worry. Who would want to be left behind and suffer the Tribulation?? I guess no one does. My dream also made me reflect about myself and my faith in Christ. I believed my dream was a reminder sent by God. Not a warning to scare the hell out of me, but a gentle reminder of my faith in Him, a reminder to help me think about my stand and my relationship with Him.

Honestly, I am really scared. I don’t want to be left behind.

List of verses pertaining to this events.

Remembering the Lord's Supper

In the early churches in the Bible, they drink wine and eat bread to commemorate the Lord’s Last Supper. This symbolic practice is done until today and it will be done until the Lord Jesus Christ comes again.

But as years gone by, the modern churches are no longer using wine but they take a cheaper alternative - the grape juice. While wine is made up of grape fruit extracts that has been aged in cellars, the grape juice is the most appropriate alternative.

There are also times that some churches use wine during the Lord’s Supper. This is when the churches celebrate special occasions such as anniversaries, Christmas and other celebrations. At these times, they can avail from the wine of the month club. Doing this can help churches avail discounts up to 45% off but sometimes, members take this opportunity to help the church by buying and donating it.

Speaking of church celebrations, the church that I am attending to will celebrate their anniversary this coming October 2008. Maybe getting a good wine can help make the celebration more worth remembering.

Cell Phone for the Big Girl

My eight year old daughter Micah and I have agreed to buy here a mobile phone. Not a new model of course, but a simple one wherein she can learn how to send text messages to me while I am out of town (planning to visit Negros again).

When we went to the mall last week, we checked on the mobile phones available and looked for some affordable ones. Well there were old models alright but unfortunately they were mostly network locked. So when you buy it, you still need to look for a shop that will be able to unlocked cell phones.

Anyway, I am still deciding whether or not I will buy a new one or repair my old cell phone. If the charge of repairing the cell phone is the same as buying a new one, I guess I would prefer buying a new one. It would be better than taking time with a very old mobile phone that might need another repair again because of its age. ^_^

Spreading the Poem of Friendship

We need Friends for many reasons, all throughout the season.

We need Friends to comfort us when we are sad, and to have fun with us when we are glad.

We need Friends to give us good advice, We need someone we can count on, and treat us nice.

We need Friends to remember us one we have passed sharing memories that will always last.

Spread the Poem of Friendship. 1. Everyday Life 2. Words of Love 3. Sheng's Simple Thoughts . . . 4. good thoughts, good trades 5. Ours and Our Kids 6. Jengspeaks 7. Jacque 8. Snippets of My Mind 9.Melisse's Domain 10.Seize The Day 11. Living A' La Mode 12. Simple Delights 13. Motherhood in a Nutshell 14. RainCindy's Blogging Time 15. General Santos City 16. About Love and Relationship 17. Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you dont mine,it doesn't matter 18. Youthful Voices 19. Follow your sense you adventure 20. The Joy Of Life Forever 21. Blessings and Beyond 22. You Are Next!!!!!

I am sharing this poem of friendship to my friend Hariette of Praning's Shoutout, Mitch of Etc Atbp and Aeirin of Iris Likes.

Bending Lifestyle

When I started joining photo related memes, I began taking pictures of almost anything I see. But the time have come that I got a little irritated, not of taking pictures but the process of transferring that file from the digital camera’s memory card to the computer. It’s very tiresome because I always manually take the memory card out of the digital camera and insert it to my PC’s card reader which is located underneath my computer table. My back really aches with the bending lifestyle.

Anyway, I am planning to buy an HDMI mini cable. In that way, I will no longer take the memory card out but I will just plug it in the camera’s port. That would be easier especially I have plans of buying a longer HDMI mini cable so that I will not bend over to plug it. My back is already hurting from my blogging lifestyle. ^_^

IMAGE COURTESY OF www.firefold.com

Finished!!

Finally, I have finished updating my blog’s new look. Not only that I changed the template but I also changed the headers. I used “Sunset Theme” by Ourblogtemplates.com and slightly modified the color combinations to suit the header’s theme.

Old Header

New Header

Well, the main reason why I changed templates is that the previous one loads very slow. Though it was already cached by my browser, it still takes time to load everything. Since I used Ourblogtemplates.com at my main blog, I have noticed that it really loads very fast. So I decided to change most of my blogs’ templates using theirs. I just modify the colors and customize the headers to retain the uniqueness of each blog.

By the way, I also changed my blog's tag line from "a journal of gratitude and hopes in life" to "a journal on faith, life and more." So, what do you think of my blog’s new look?

Blog Under Construction

Blessings and Beyond is undergoing a another massive blog make-over. So please bear with me as I tweak the blog. Thank you very much.

For the meantime, please enjoy your stay. ^_^

Childish Me

I have been playing YoVille for 3 days now. It’s an online game that you can add to your FaceBook account. It is similar to the Sims but not that complicated. The good thing about this game is that you can meet friends of all ages around the world. I was able to meet as young as eight years old and up to 40 years of age.

The game is simple, you go to work and earn. You buy food to have energy and things to make your home beautiful. Just be careful because even in this childish game, scammers abound. They will take your coins for nothing. I got scammed on the first day (poor me).

~ Mommy Aeirin Making Fun of My Sleeping Character ~

Anyway, I love playing YoVille because it acts as one of my stress relievers. I find it very entertaining and sometimes educational. So, if you want to join me, click the banner below. Don’t worry it’s for FREE! If you join, I will have coins to buy items too. ^_^ Thanks in advance!!

Cleaning Other's Mess

Staying in one residential compound has its disadvantages. You need to work things out with everybody. You need to learn how to live with others but unfortunately, the significant others just don’t know how to co-exist with everybody. How I wish I could avail of a fence installation just to tell them that this space is ours and not theirs! I am tired of seeing my old mother clean other people’s mess.

IMAGE COURTESY OF GOOGLE.COM

Insurance Thoughts

It’s been awhile since I have resigned from my work. When I have submitted my work clearance from my previous company, all benefits offered by the company such as HMO, cash allowance, travel medical insurance and others were stopped. Now, I have nothing at all. Whenever my children and I get sick (I hope not), we have no insurance coverage except those from my hubby’s company which is not that very convenient for us.

Just this morning, my father opened the idea that I should get some insurance or something so that I could have some emergency funding. Well, I think he has a very practical advice. I might consider it for the sake of my children. The only thing that I should pray for now is to have more workloads so that I could pay for it. ^_^

I Could Never Out Love The Lord

Last Sunday, we sang a very beautiful song at church. I have never heard this before but I know that this one is not new. The song really touched me because it really emphasizes what LOVE really is. Sometimes, I always complain because I am not seeing any expression of LOVE in return from my husband. When I read the lyrics of the song, I have realized that Jesus showed how LOVE really works and how we should LOVE too.

So, I took the liberty of looking for the lyrics over the internet. I was very blessed to have found it considering this is a very old song (back in the hymnal days). Check the lyrics below, I am sure you will be blessed like me too!

I Could Never Out Love The Lord

VERSE 1
There have been times when giving and loving brought pain
And I promised that I'd never let it happen again
But I found out that loving is well worth the risk
And that even in loosing you when

CHORUS
I'm gonna live the way He wants me to live
I'm gonna give until there's just no more to give
I'm gonna love, love till there's just no more love
I could never, never out love the Lord

VERSE 2
He showed us that only through dying we live
And He gave when it seemed there was nothing to give
He loved when loving brought heartache and lose
He forgave from a old rugged cross

REPEAT CHORUS
I'm gonna live the way He wants me to live
I'm gonna give until there's just no more to give
I'm gonna love, love till there's just no more love
I could never, never out love the Lord

The BEST definition of LOVE:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-6

I really hope that I could truly LOVE the way Jesus loved us.

Disney Bingo DVD Game

When I was a child, I was not that exposed to playing BINGO. But when I was working with my previous company, we always play BINGO all the time. Every week we would play a mini-BINGO game and one grand game once a month. I really enjoyed that time because we used to have jokes while playing it. Making funny things and cracking jokes added to the excitement of playing the game.

Now, since I already resigned, I was not able to play BINGO anymore. Then I could not also go to the mall just to play it. But when I saw Screenlife Games' Disney Bingo DVD game, I was getting some thoughts of playing again. Well not that big time but a way to bond with my children and family. It would also be nice playing this game set with the kids because of the beautiful Disney Characters.

The Disney Bingo DVD game package includes 1 DVD, 150 Bingo Chips, 6 Double-Sided Bingo Cards and the set of game rules. Aside from the Disney Characters, they also have several others like featuring the Nickelodeon Characters (Dora, Spongebob) and another set showcasing Thomas and Friends.

You can also check out the video below to know more about Screenlife’s exciting DVD games:

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Clothes and Books for the Kiddos

Weekend Snapshot 2

Every Sunday, we always make it to a point that my kiddos and I spend the afternoon outside the house. So yesterday, we went shopping for some clothes and books. It was a once in a blue moon experience because we always buy our dresses at the ukay-ukay (second hand clothes).

Have a great week ahead!

Happy? Sad?

Thank you Mommy Mars of Momhood Moments for this wonderful tag. Actually, I have done this already at Lourdes' Mia. So what you will see below is just a re-post.

{Start Copy Here}

Here are the Rules:
1. List things that makes you happy and what makes you sad.
2. Add your blog to the list. Feel free to add all your other blogs.
3. Tag other online friends you know.....

What makes me happy?

A complete family. A successful marriage. No sickness.
Enough opportunity to pay the bills and buy food on the table.
All of us serving the Lord Jesus Christ.

What makes me sad?

Anything that would destroy our family and marriage life.
No opportunity means financial trouble.
Losing our faith in the Almighty.

{End Copy Here}

I am not tagging anyone but if you haven't done this, please feel FREE to grab. ^_^

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